WILD DOGS —
CONTROL MEASURES
1334. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I refer to the WA wild dog action
plan research and development fund, which offered grants for research and
development into the control of wild dog populations.
(1) How many funding applications
did the minister approve earlier this year?
(2) How is the minister's
department tracking the progress of the programs approved for the funding?
(3) Is the
department taking any other action to reduce the number of wild dogs in
regional WA; and, if not, why not?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
This question was not received in time, and I do not yet have a full answer. I can
answer part (1), but I am not prepared to answer parts (2) and (3).
(1) We announced five successful research and
development projects in June 2019. They were: identifying baits that
were more attractive to wild dogs, and improving the baits, which was done by
Murdoch University; identifying alternative storage methods for baits;
improving animal welfare outcomes in wild dog management,
which was done by the Goldfields–Nullarbor Regional Biosecurity
Association; the tracking and
location of wild dogs using a remote piloted aircraft, which was done through
the Meekatharra Rangelands
Biosecurity Association; and, finally, the visual and electronic
deterrents for wild dogs, which was a Curtin University project.
I will provide the remainder of the
information by tomorrow.